The Regressed Blood Knight’s Strategy

[Translator - Helga ]

[Proofreader - Lucky]

Chapter 174

‘He definitely said I should draw power from nature.’

Once again, Kane recalled the sensation from earlier.

He let go of his impatience.

He had to regain the feel of using mana if he were to save his grandmother.

He calmed his racing mind.

Kane adjusted his breathing as if drawing it not from within but from nature itself.

Inhale, exhale—repeating the cycle.

“It worked!” Kane exclaimed.

Finally, he could use mana again.

Thud!

He launched off the ground with all the speed he could muster.

Before long, Kane arrived at the Seoul Express Bus Terminal.

“Thank goodness, everything seems fine here for now,” Kane muttered to himself.

The aftermath of the gate opening at Sevit Island had impacted the Seoul Express Bus terminal too. That’s how his grandmother got caught up in it.

Recalling that memory, Kane began searching for her.

“Which gate was it again?” he thought.

Scanning around, his eyes landed on Gate 19.

It came back to him now. He needed to go to the arrival platform to spot people getting off.

Kane watched as passengers disembarked from the bus.

Among them was an elderly woman, hunched over and marked by deep wrinkles.

“Grandma!” Kane called out.

“Oh my, Grandson! How did you know to come here?”

“How could you just show up out of nowhere without saying anything? Seoul is dangerous!” Kane scolded gently.

“Well, you’re living all alone, so this old lady has to check on you now and then. I even brought some groceries,” his grandmother replied.

She went to the luggage compartment and pulled out her bag.

“I’ll carry it for you,” Kane offered.

The box was quite heavy.

To think she carried something this weighty with her frail body.

His grandmother got caught in that accident because of him.

If only she’d stayed home instead of coming here today, she wouldn’t have ended up in a coma....

Kane took her hand.

“Let’s go home,” he said softly.

Just as he matched her pace and started moving, an alarm blared throughout the terminal.

"A demonic beast has appeared at Gate 1! Please evacuate immediately. I repeat, a demonic beast has appeared at Gate 1! Everyone, evacuate!"

Along with the announcement, the demonic beast let out a terrifying roar.

Kraaaahhh!

The bus terminal plunged into chaos in an instant.

Demonic beasts were like natural disasters.

When they appeared, they claimed hundreds, even thousands of lives.

Even in the brief time before hunters could arrive, many people lost their lives.

“Grandma, wait here for a moment, okay?” Kane said.

She gripped his hand tightly, trembling.

Most people reacted just like her.

To modern humans, demonic beasts were incomprehensible entities—not like the mutated monsters that overran the world Kane had been sent to.

Before his grandmother could protest, Kane gently touched a spot on her neck with his fingers.

Through mana, he lulled her into a temporary sleep.

Carefully, Kane leaned her against a chair and approached the rampaging beast.

“Hey, kid! Where do you think you’re going? Get out of here, now!”

A terminal guard shouted at Kane.

Ignoring the cries, Kane focused on manipulating his mana.

In his right hand, blood mana gathered and formed into a sword.

That creature— it was the same monster that had once left his grandmother in a coma.

It was the reason Kane had become so engrossed in the game.

The game had been both a refuge and an escape for the powerless Kane.

“Thanks for showing up right in front of me,” Kane muttered, his eyes fixed on the demonic beast.

He charged forward.

The grotesque creature resembled some kind of monster.

‘A mutation of a Frost Gnoll?’

It didn’t matter.

The only thought in Kane’s mind was to kill it.

He swung the blood sword, crafted from mana.

Before the blade itself could land, the blood it emitted struck the beast.

Screeeech!

With a deafening scream, the beast was reduced to dust in an instant.

The result was unsurprising.

Kane was a powerful 8th-class warrior from the continent of Teverland.

No ordinary monster could withstand his attack.

As the demonic beast fell before the hunters could even arrive, the terminal guard who had shouted at Kane stood frozen, his face a mix of shock and disbelief.

The creature Kane had just slain was a calamity-level beast, the second-highest grade among demonic creatures.

Without an S-rank hunter, such a foe was considered undefeatable.

But Kane paid no attention to the guard’s astonishment.

Instead, he turned back to his grandmother.

Looking at her sleeping form, Kane murmured softly,

“If I had this strength in the past, I could’ve saved her from danger….”

In his normal life, Kane had been an ordinary person.

Just a regular office worker who enjoyed playing games.

Perhaps his obsession with games had stemmed from his envy of the transcendent power that hunters wielded.

“Anyway, I hope this means I’ve passed my trial.”

Kane glanced around the terminal. His surroundings had not yet shifted back to the present,

which meant he still had more time to spend with his grandmother.

Lifting his sleeping grandmother onto his back, Kane made his way back to his rented room.

Meanwhile

Elsewhere, Ray had been in a daze ever since entering his “Future Room.”

“This can’t be happening... No way. Our family can’t go bankrupt!” Ray shouted, desperately denying what he had seen.

Ray had chosen to view his future for one simple reason: his absolute confidence that he would still be living well.

With this belief, he had boldly stepped into the future.

But what greeted him was the exact opposite of his expectations.

“They say even a ruined chaebol family can live off their wealth for three generations!”

His family had gone completely broke.

Bankruptcy.

A recovery was impossible.

"Is This My Trial?"

Ray shouted toward the sky, his voice filled with despair.

“Is this the trial I have to face?”

“Shut it! Where do you think you are, shouting in someone else’s space? Get lost already!”

A homeless man barked at him.

“Ugh!” Ray clenched his fists.

“What, you wanna take a swing at me?”

As the man stood, the gazes of other homeless people around them turned to Ray.

Suppressing his anger, Ray walked away aimlessly.

He muttered under his breath, dazed, “A homeless man? Me? My family went completely bankrupt?”

He couldn’t accept it.

The idea that his future self had fallen so low was unthinkable to him.

“What on earth happened?”

Ray was the youngest son of one of the wealthiest conglomerates in Korea, a company that converted mana stones harvested from demonic beasts into energy.

A company like that couldn’t just collapse—unless demonic beasts stopped appearing altogether. But even in the future, demonic beasts still existed.

“I need to clear this trial and get out of here. It must’ve all gone wrong because I disappeared.”

In his company, Ray had played an important role: quality assurance for mana stones and purchasing them.

“That’s it. It’s because I wasn’t there. Everything fell apart because of me.”

Ray convinced himself of this.

“Does this mean I have to fix everything to escape the Future Room?”

Even if he resolved to fix it, he had no idea where to start. His family’s connections were severed, his parents and siblings unreachable.

“Damn it! I can’t think of a single solution!”

Despair consumed him.

He had thought his future would bring even greater wealth and fame, yet here he was—reduced to nothing.

His mental state shattered, and no ideas came to him.

“If I can’t pass this trial, I’ll be trapped here forever….”

For the first time since he had possessed the game character, he felt truly powerless.

At least when he had possessed Ray, he’d brimmed with confidence.

In his modern life, Ray had been talented in so many ways.

But now, the talent he had relied on—money—was completely gone.

With no plan in mind, Ray wandered aimlessly, waiting for a solution to strike him.

After walking for what felt like an eternity, a thought suddenly surfaced.

“Kane! That guy’s still around, isn’t he? Han Chanyul, was it?”

[Tl/N: Kane’s real name.]

During the month they had spent together in the Rehinar territory, Ray and Kane had shared many conversations.

As fellow modern-day individuals who had been transported into the same game world, they often spoke deeply with one another.

Han Chanyul.

A man from Gangwon Province.

His parents had passed away early, and he had been raised by his grandmother.

A loner, just a regular office worker with a passion for web novels and gaming.

He lived in a small studio near Dongdae Station.

With this information flooding his mind, Ray immediately set off for Dongdae Station.

* * *

Kane, or rather Han Chanyul, was enjoying dinner with his grandmother in their small one-room apartment.

"Grandma, your cooking is as amazing as ever," he said with genuine warmth.

"Eat plenty, dear," she replied with a gentle smile.

It had been a long time since he’d had such a meal—pork ribs and aged kimchi stew she had prepared back in Gangwon Province.

"Take your time eating."

"It’s too good, I can’t help it," Kane said, devouring the food with enthusiasm.

He cleaned his bowl of rice and even finished all the side dishes.

"You’re planning to stay here for a while before heading back, right?"

"I’ll head back tomorrow," she said matter-of-factly.

"Why? You should stay longer," Kane urged.

"This room’s too small for the both of us. You’ll feel cramped," she reasoned.

"I don’t mind at all."

"But I prefer the comfort of my home. The city doesn’t suit me," she said kindly, showing her thoughtfulness for her grandson.

"Grandma."

Kane reached out and held her hand for the first time in a while.

"I’m so relieved that you’re healthy."

Except for a bad back, she had no chronic illnesses.

If she hadn’t been caught in that gate incident, she would have lived much longer. Kane was thankful that the past hadn’t repeated itself.

They spent the rest of the evening reminiscing, losing track of time as they shared stories from the past.

The next day, Kane escorted his grandmother to the Seoul bus terminal.

"Travel safely. I’ll visit you soon," he said as they hugged goodbye.

"Alright, now get back to your work," she said, waving her hand repeatedly.

The bus began to move, and she kept waving at him through the window until she was out of sight.

At that moment, the space around Kane distorted, and the world turned entirely white.

Clap, clap, clap!

A slow applause broke the silence.

Lami stood before him, clapping her hands.

"Congratulations on leaving the trial of Present," she said with a grin.

"Does this mean I’ve passed the trial?" Kane asked.

"You’re the fastest I’ve ever seen. Most people flounder in their trial spaces, losing themselves to despair or even madness," Lami remarked, visibly impressed.

"Is that so?" Kane responded, still feeling a lingering warmth from the experience of saving his grandmother.

"You're really something. You accomplished an incredible feat, yet you seem so composed. Or… is that just a flicker of emotion I see?" Lami observed him curiously.

The trials were divine tests meant to challenge humans.

Passing even a single trial was an extraordinary accomplishment.

But Kane had passed his trial with remarkable speed.

Realizing and embracing his inner strength in such a short span was an exceptional feat, one that only a genius could achieve.

"What about Ray? Has he passed his trial yet?"

"Not even close. He doesn’t have a brain like yours, after all," Lami teased.

"So, do I wait for him to finish, or can I move on?"

"You can proceed immediately. Are you ready for the next trial?"

"I’ll start right away," Kane declared.

"Which of the three trials will you choose next?"

Lami’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. She was eager to see what Kane would decide after the Reality Room.

"I’ll go to the Future Room," Kane said decisively.

"Really? Don’t you want to experience death? It’s quite the ride," Lami teased with a smirk.

"I’d rather not. Dying is a filthy experience I don’t care to repeat."

In a barely audible voice, Lami muttered, "Does he know what he’s getting into?"

"Pardon?" Kane asked, catching her murmur.

"Nothing," she replied with a sly smile.

"Nothing at all. I'll open the door to the Future Room."

Ziiing—

The door hummed as it opened.

Having conquered the Present Room, Kane now faced the Future Room.

What awaited him this time? He secretly hoped to glimpse his own life after leaving this world.

Without hesitation, Kane stepped through the threshold. The door closed behind him, leaving Lami alone outside.

"If it's Kane, he'll probably go straight to find Ray. Ray’s incredibly lucky," Lami murmured to herself. "If Kane had chosen the Room of Death instead, Ray would’ve drowned in his trial and perished for sure."

A sly grin played on her lips as she watched the closed door.

[Translator - Helga ]

[Proofreader - Lucky]